Over the last four weeks there have been some very interesting events that have happened. But through these four weeks I have learned many things about myself. After completing very hard work I have learned that when I set my mind to it I can get some crazy work done even if it is over 95 degrees and the humidity is killer. Our site was a pile of rocks and evil bushes on the first day but now there are two defined buildings with bedrock showing. This work was very rewarding, I found small moments of joy in the brutal heat after digging out a wall or finding a piece of pottery and moments of sadness when Adam goes on about roof tiles. Or when our supervisor is proud of us when we set up Nivo. But the most rewarding moments are when we are all by our selves having a great time doing archaeology, many of these moments are simply getting to know each other by talking or acting weird, especially when those CURSED tourists show up. One thing I will always remember is the six rules that our original team created which stuck through the entire month.
An important thing to learn being on the field is being able to learn from the site and your peers. The supervisors and Professor Howe are there to teach you and you listen and take what they are telling you into the future with you. Listening is an important key to successfully completing any kind of work, but learning to listen and take that information with you is important. On the dig site you don’t want to dig a hole and have to level out the entire area to that level or you don’t want to take down a wall because you weren’t listening. I was able to learn both visually and verbally on site from Howe and from what I was digging.
What I have learned about myself is not on site but, even though I have learned how far I can push my body to achieve hard work. But rather I learned that I can put myself out there, in an environment where only about 20 other people speak the same language. Where the culture is so different you have to what people around you and ask questions to fully understand the significance. It was amazing that I could put myself out into a different environment and survive. Even make friends with some of the students who only knew a few words in English. I had a goal to know all the names of the Turkish students by the end of the month. Even though there are a couple students I don’t know, but a large majority I do now and some of them I like to consider friends. It has been amazing how now I can interact with people who don’t speak English where as 2 years ago I could not interact with people who spoke English. It has been amazing how I have grow to the point where I can interact with so many people now.